Sisters of Snakes
by AmazingGraceless
Summary: The descendants of Isolt discuss heritage and if evil is in their blood. Companion to Wizards of the Lost Kingdom.


**AN: Themed- Write about discovery of self. Prompt/Characters- Sisters. The Steward Sisters I've written about before seemed like the perfect characters to write a one-shot about. This is compliant with the story _Wizards of the Lost Kingdom._ Wordcount is 1,256 words.**

* * *

Seven years came and went, and sooner than Queenie would've liked to admit, the seventh anniversary of the death of Madds and Clara had passed. She'd awoken early in the morning, wondering why it was she couldn't sleep. After a steaming mug of tea, she finally understood the source.

In two days, the twins would receive their Ilvermorny acceptance letters.

 _I could teach them,_ Queenie realized. _I'm good at Potions. Ciara's a talented Transfigurist and Charmer. Surely between the two of us, and even Mother, we could teach them everything they'd learn at Ilvermorny- perhaps even a little more._

Queenie glanced at the shelf of kitchen books. On the shelf lined up was a small battered copy of _The Witch's Guide to Kitchen Charms_ that belonged to Adelaide many years ago. Next were Gilderoy Lockhart cooking books, and a few of Queenie's own Potions books.

Realizing that they did not belong there and should in fact be in her laboratory, she immediately took the books down and carried them up a metal spiraling staircase that was added to the house in the 1960's into a room off the side of the house with an open balcony. Inside this laboratory, Queenie brewed potions professionally for her clients. Spotting her bookshelf, Queenie opened it and placed her books inside. From between books slipped a photograph.

Frowning, Queenie bent over to pick it up. She examined the photograph under the light of her wand as the day began to break outside. It was of Ciara, Queenie, and Madds too long ago, on a September 1st, as they were all in the cobalt and cranberry robes. They were laughing and smiling, sunburnt from the summer in the sunshine playing by Lake Superior's shore.

Queenie turned it over. In Adelaide's spiky handwriting it read- _the kids, 09/01, 1994_.

 _Only a few years before it all started to go wrong,_ Queenie thought. She set the photograph back in the shelf, and returned to the kitchen. She picked up her cup of tea, and was annoyed to find it had gone cold. She cast a small charm to heat it up, and was satisfied. She went back to contemplating the girls' education.

Ilvermorny would give them friends, a community, Queenie thought, thinking to her own years there. To the man she had to turn down the day she learned her brother's wife had left it in her will that she was to take care of their kids. But Mercy Lewis, they don't know what the rest of the magical world thinks of them. They don't know about the rumors and the books and whispers that even members of the MACSUA have passed about them.

 _They know what their parents were,_ Queenie reminded herself. _They should know to expect consequences._

"Couldn't sleep?"

Queenie turned to see Ciara leaning against the doorway. Her lip twitched up in an instinctive smile at her sister. She knew that Ciara would always be there for her. Her older sister seemed an omnipresent force in Queenie's life. Queenie couldn't imagine life without her. She used to feel the same way about Madds.

Then he dabbled in the Dark Arts and plotted to kill the president, and was killed by Aurors.

Now Queenie didn't want to imagine a life without Ciara leaning in every doorway, smiling like a ray of sunshine. Queenie took a sip of her tea.

"You know me so well," she answered. "Is Mom still asleep?"

Ciara nodded. "Don't worry, we both know she could sleep through the Wizarding Civil War."

"Indeed," Queenie laughed. She then sobered quickly. "Cee, what are we going to do? In two days the twins will get their Ilvermorny letters."

"Was there ever a question about it?" Ciara's dark eyes were wide with surprise. "Last I knew, they were going to Ilvermorny just like every other witch and wizard in the family."

"Yes," Queenie said hesitantly. "But I'm not sure they should. They've never left William's Cove."

"All the more reason to," Ciara replied calmly.

"But they don't know what the other kids grew up knowing about them!" Queenie cried, her emotions finally breaking through. "They don't know that what Madds and Clara were will affect them!"

"Because we agreed that was best!" Ciara cried back. "They're older now! I would've thought you of all people would've wanted them to be made of sterner stuff!"

"I don't know!" Queenie shrieked. "I didn't want to become a mother at nineteen to four-year-olds! I don't know what to tell them about any of them! I never have! I let Irena do it, because I still can't believe what Madds was, because I still think of him and Clara as the kindest people I ever knew, because that was what I knew!"

"We still have to decide how much Saoirse and Findlay know about their parents!" Ciara reminded her. "You think it isn't hard for them? They still remember living with their parents and thinking of them as good people! But they know most of the truth. Or as much as Irena ever knew. Imagine that. Not knowing what to think about the people who raised you."

"We can't decide that for them," Queenie said, quieting down. "We can't decide what they feel. What we can decide, at this point, is if we want to expose them to more information."

"Let them choose," Ciara advised, calming as well. "Explain everything to them. Then they may understand."

"I hope they do," Queenie said.

* * *

Findlay and Saoirse sat at the table. All they knew was that their aunts wanted to speak to them about their approaching birthday. The look on Queenie's face told them it was not a happy subject.

"What have we told you about Ilvermorny?" Queenie asked.

"Just that it's a school for people like us and that you and our parents went there," Saoirse answered.

"There's more to it than just that," Ciara said. "The Stewards are descendants of Isolt Sayre."

"How?" Findlay asked.

"Isolt Sayre had twin girls with a No-Maj man named James Steward," Ciara said. "One of the twins, Rionach, never had children. The other, Martha, was a Squib and she had children with a man from the Potumuc tribe."

"And we're Martha's descendants," Findlay said.

"Very good," Ciara said. "Ilvermorny is your birthright, if you wish to go. But there's something else you should know."

"You remember your parents?" Queenie said.

"Not a day goes by when I don't think about them," Saoirse said.

"The rumor goes that you are both dark like them," Queenie said. "Especially because you can talk to snakes."

"It's a traditionally dark magic," Ciara added.

"They believe that makes us evil?" Findlay cried, outraged. She glanced at her sister. "I'll prove them wrong."

"So you want to go, then?" Ciara asked.

"Of course!" Findlay said. "I can't let others hold me back!"

"Are you sure?" Ciara asked. "People will be cruel- especially kids- because they're afraid of what they don't know."

"How can I know if I am truly what they say if I don't try?" Findlay demanded, rising to her feet. "I'm not a baby anymore! I can't just stay in this old house forever!"

"Then it is your decision," Queenie said. "Saoirse?"

The girl bit her lip. "I'll go."

"Are you sure?"

"Wherever my sister goes, I'll go with," Saoirse said.

Saoirse and Findlay shared a look. They would go wherever they could together, and they would discover who they were together. They held hands, united as twins.


End file.
